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What’s for dinner?
With a flourish, she placed a big check mark next to it. Then she wrote,Thank You, Lord, for Lydia Macklin.
Dropping the pen, she let the old familiar thoughts resurface. How many times as a teenager had she thought that one day she would be part of the Macklin family? Garrett’s words about “the wives” painfully echoed through her heart. She wanted those secret recipes because she had wanted to be one of those wives.
But Garrett had made it clear after many years of friendship that there would be nothing more between them. He didn’t want a wife.
Somehow, she had thought he might change his mind one day, but now she could see that he wouldn’t. Even if he did now, she wouldn’t be the one he was looking for.
Especially not after he saw the disaster she was living in. Standing up, she moved to the living room and stared. Last night, she had fallen asleep with the TV on and the piles of laundry surrounding her. This morning, the boys had woken up and climbed all over the couch, knocking over her stacks and ruining her folding job.
Oh well. The boys didn’t care if they were folded anyway. She scooped up a pile of clothes belonging to both boys and carried it up the stairs to their room, calling them in from outside on her way.
“Put these away as fast as you can. I’ll time you,” she said as soon as they came into the room. That seemed to be the one trick to get them to work. As they jumped to it and started throwing clothes into drawers, she made her way back downstairs and scooped up another pile of clothes and delivered it to their room. At least they wouldn’t spend another night on the couch.
Elise made her way to the kitchen and searched the pantry for paper plates. After the day she’d had with the boys, she couldn’t create any more dirty dishes. There was enough piling up in the sink as it was.
She decided then that she would call the boys for dinner, and later tonight, she would get caught up in the kitchen. No one needed to see the house looking like that again.
Even though she was sure Garrett Macklin wouldn’t darken the door in the future.
* * *
Garrett couldn’t stop thinkingabout returning to Elise’s house. All the next day he was busy with tasks on the ranch, but his mind was busy thinking about Elise. What was her life like? Did the boys run her ragged, and she didn’t have time to think? Or was the house too overwhelming for a young woman who had never run a house before? And what about those bills on the counter? Was Elise even working right now?
That evening, he wanted to drive over and sit down and ask her all those questions. Sure, it had been a long time since they had been close, but his family cared about her family. And if he could just find out what she needed, he could pass along the information. Surely his mom and sisters-in-law could help her get going on the right foot. And if it was financial help she needed, maybe the church would want to be involved.
But as much as he wanted to go, the evening got away from him. After dinner, he stepped out on the porch ready to head to his truck.
“Hey, Garrett,” his oldest brother, Sawyer, called out. “Can you help me with something?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“We’ve got a few repairs that need to be done in the barn. It’s been on my list, but it’s just too hot in the day right now to be up on the roof. It seems like every night we’ve got something going on with the kids, or Katie needs me for something. But tonight, I’m finally free.” He reached over and playfully punched Garrett’s arms. “And I know you’ve got nothing better to do.”
Garret faked a smile. “Sure thing.” He couldn’t say no to an obligation on the ranch. There was work to be done, and if now was the time to do it, then he would do it.
That night when he crawled into bed, after repairing a hole in the barn roof, fixing a door, changing out a few light bulbs, and moving a load of hay to the barn, his thoughts still centered on Elise.
Tomorrow, he would make an excuse to go into town, and then he would find out what needed to be done.
4
Elise watched from the window as the boys ran around in the backyard squirting each other with water guns. She took several deep breaths in and out, relieved at the relative quiet with them being outdoors. The morning had taken every ounce of energy she had. She had made a list and told the boys they were cleaning up the house before they did anything else.
It had been as exhausting as she expected. The boys weren’t much help, but she kept pushing and prodding them along each step of the way. It was just before noon, and the bathrooms were cleaned, floors were vacuumed, and all dishes and laundry were put away. Elise chided herself for not paying more attention to how Mom had always handled everything about the house.
Once they were done, the boys were begging to go to the pool like they usually did in the summer. But Elise had canceled the community center membership to help cut back on the budget. The boys couldn’t understand that.
Her phone rang across the room on the kitchen counter, interrupting her momentary break. Making her way over, she picked it up and glanced at the number she didn’t recognize.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Hi, I’m looking for Elise Hart.”
“This is she.” Elise rolled her eyes, preparing herself to hear a telemarketer pitch.
“This is Susan Blocton. I’m with the Department of Family and Protective Services.”
